Sunday, May 31, 2015

Cairo — The National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) said on Sunday
that at least 2,500 civilians and security personnel were killed in
violence in the period between June 2013 and December 2014.

NCHR, whose members are appointed by the government, said in a report
on human rights conditions that 700 security personnel and 1800
civilians were killed, including 1,250 Muslim Brotherhood members.

The reporting period started one month before the ouster of Muslim
Brotherhood politician and former president Mohamed Mursi by the
military, following mass protests against his rule.

Since July 2013, violence caused by militants has surged, especially
in the Sinai Peninsula, although other parts of the country have been
affected.

In addition to the deaths caused by violence, at least 80 detainees
died in custody in prisons and police stations in the same period, the
report said.

"The phenomenon of deaths in detention had disappeared completely ...
but it returned again," the report said. The council called for a quick
solution to this.

It cited health and living conditions and "extreme over-crowdedness"
as the reasons for the deaths. Occupancy inside police stations reached
400 percent and 160 percent in prisons, the report stated, citing the
Interior Ministry.

"It is true that there is nothing to prove that any of them died as a
result of torture but there is nothing to prove otherwise," it read.

The reporting period has also witnessed an expansion in the use of
prolonged periods of preventive detention. "So preventive detention
became a punishment."

The council demanded a reasonable maximum period that may be spent in
preventive detention and called for the release of humanitarian cases,
the elderly and students who have not been implicated in violence.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued a
presidential decree Thursday extending the terms for board members of
the state-controlled Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) for another
year, inciting the ire of critics who point out that ETUF elections are
now four years overdue.

In the absence of union elections, the Manpower Ministry has been appointing its board members since 2011.

According
to the Trade Union Law, ETUF elections should be held every five years,
but the country’s largest labor federation hasn’t held elections since
October through November 2006. An Administrative Court ruling
invalidated those polls in late 2006 due to the lack of judicial
oversight.

Independent union organizers and other critics argue
that by extending the terms for unelected ETUF leaders, Thursday’s
decree facilitates the state's direct control over the federation. They
also lambaste the move for encouraging a lack of transparency and
accountability among the union’s leaders.

“These elections are
being postponed, yet again, because the ruling authorities do not want
to lose their control over this state apparatus. The regime wants to
keep the ETUF under its wing,” Nagy Rashad, a former caretaker member of
the ETUF, told Mada Masr.

Rashad further argued that the decree “is a non-democratic measure and has clear authoritarian dimensions.”

He
pointed out that the ETUF has remained under state control since it was
founded in 1957, “and since the January 25 revolution [of 2011], we’ve
witnessed how all the interim and ruling authorities have sought to keep
the ETUF in line with their political and economic objectives, in order
to serve their own interests — just as [former President Hosni] Mubarak
had done before them.”

ETUF leaders joined Sisi on April 27 to commemorate Labor Day at Cairo’s Police Academy this year.
At this official event, ETUF’s acting president Gebali
al-Maraghi presented Sisi with a declaration from his federation
pledging that its members would reject labor strikes and refrain from
other forms of industrial protests.

“We demand free and fair
elections so as to insure that the ETUF becomes a representative trade
union body, which genuinely represents its members, as opposed to
representing the interests of the ruling regime. We also demand new
legislation to replace Trade Union Law 35/1976, which allows for
indirect elections of the ETUF’s top leaders,” Rashad concluded.

ETUF
elections have been postponed time and time again since 2011 under the
pretext of avoiding overlap with parliamentary elections.

However,
the parliamentary elections that were slated for March and April of
this year are now also overdue, having passed the deadline stipulated by
constitutional Article 230.
The Supreme Constitutional Court halted those elections on March 1, on
the basis that the law on electoral constituencies does not guarantee
fair voter representation.

Mada Masr

Head of the German Parliament Norbert Lammert
canceled a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
scheduled for early June due to concerns regarding “the human rights
situation in Egypt,” German newspaper Der Spiegel reported on Tuesday.

Lammert
reportedly sent a letter to the Egyptian Ambassador in Berlin
justifying rescinding Sisi’s invitation. In a statement issued by the
German Parliament on Tuesday, Lammert criticized the current political
situation in Egypt.

“Instead of holding the long-awaited
parliamentary elections, we have been witnessing months of systematic
prosecution of opposition groups, mass arrests, convictions to lengthy
prison terms and issuing a shocking number of death sentences, including
against former head of the Egyptian Parliament Saad al-Katatny,” he
clarified.

Lammert’s statement emphasized that “since no efforts
seem to have been made toward maintaining the peace in Egypt or towards
democratic development,” he “sees no basis for a conversation with the
Egyptian president.”

Al-Masry Al-Youm that the
Egyptian side had not “requested” nor was it “looking forward to meeting
with the head of the German Parliament.”

“The meeting was added to the trip’s itinerary by the German side,” Hegazy added.

According
to Der Spiegel, the German Federal Press Office has yet to comment on
whether Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet with Sisi in light of recent
developments.

Lammert’s decision is one of many reactions
triggered by Saturday’s court decision sentencing Morsi and other Muslim
Brotherhood figures to death.

On Sunday, a US State Department
official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the Guardian that
the US is “deeply concerned by yet another mass death sentence handed
down by an Egyptian court to more than 100 defendants, including former
President Morsi.”

The European Union also criticized the court’s
decision, adding that the “cruel and inhumane” penalty “stemmed from a
flawed trial.”

Since the military
takeover in July 2013, there has been a surge in sexual violence
perpetrated by the security forces in Egypt, asserts a report released today by FIDH.

“The scale of sexual violence occurring during arrests and
in detention, the similarities in the methods used and the general
impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators point to a cynical political
strategy aimed at stifling civil society and silencing all opposition,” said Karim Lahidji, FIDH President.

Based on interviews with victims, lawyers and members of human rights
NGOs, the report reveals the involvement of police, National Security
Intelligence officers and the military in sexual violence, including
rape, sexual assault, rape with objects, electrocution of genitalia,
sex-based defamation and blackmail.

“We were attacked in a raid led by the chief of the
Alexandria Criminal Intelligence (Mabahith)... They made us kneel down
with our hands behind our heads. Then they took the young women to one
side and frisked us with our faces towards the wall, sexually harassing
us and insulting us. I tried to remove the hand of one of the Central
Security soldiers from my trousers, so then they beat me with their
weapons until I could no longer resist.” K., an activist from an Egyptian human rights NGO.

Such violence is perpetrated on a massive scale by state security
forces, making a mockery of government commitments to make combating
sexual violence in Egyptian society a priority.

Piecemeal and token
measures, including partial legislative reforms and the establishment of
a unit within the Ministry of Interior dedicated to fighting violence
against women, have had little impact on the spread of this epidemic.

The FIDH report shows that such violence is widely tolerated, with
perpetrators, whether state actors or civilians, rarely having to answer
for their crimes. Since the July 2014 trial of seven men accused of
participating in mob-sexual assaults in Tahrir Square during the
inauguration of President el-Sisi in June 2014, there have been no
further trials for mob sexual violence. As for the security forces,
despite complaints, no officers have been tried for crimes of sexual
violence.

The role of the security forces in perpetrating sexual harassment and
assault, including during body searches, security checks and in police
stations, constitutes a further deterrent to victims filing complaints.
The general climate of impunity fosters and fuels further violence by
state actors and civilians.

“The Egyptian government must immediately put an end to
these crimes, committed by actors under their direct authority. They
must ensure serious investigations into all allegations and the
prosecution and punishment of those responsible in accordance with
international standards,” said Amina Bouayach, FIDH Secretary General.

While tolerating these crimes, el-Sisi’s regime has also hijacked the
fight against sexual violence as a pretext to tighten state security.
Since autumn 2013, the government has orchestrated a campaign of
repression against LGBT persons.

Security forces raided bath houses and
detained LGBT persons based on information gathered through internet
surveillance and accused them of “debauchery” and
“sexual indecency.” The government justified the arbitrary detention of
these individuals, during which many suffered sexual violence, by
invoking protection of Egypt’s moral and religious order.

The Cairo Court for Urgent Affairs issued a
verdict on Saturday banning the activities of all hardcore football fan
groups known as Ultras across the country and declaring them terrorist
organizations.

The verdict, which criminalizes the existence of
Ultras groups, stems from a report by Zamalek Club President Mortada
Mansour, who also accused them of attempting to kill him and banned them from entering the club.

It
is the latest development in a long history of animosity between the
state and the Ultras, which has resulted in frequent confrontations
between Ultras fans and police forces at football stadiums and escalated
following the involvement of Ultras in the 2011 revolution.

Two massacres have occurred during football matches since 2012, which Ultras groups hold security forces responsible for.

In February 2012, clashes between Ahly and Port Said fans following a match in Port Said stadium turned tragic when security forces blocked the exits of the stadium and 72 Ahly fans were killed.

Again in February 2015, around 20 Zamalek fans were killed when the police deployed teargas in the small metal box they were passing through to enter the stadium.

Dalia
Abdel Hamid, a social researcher who has studied Ultras groups
extensively in recent years, says that the state’s animosity towards the
Ultras is based on several factors, including their participation in
the revolution and the state’s fear of organized groups.

“They are
being punished along with all other factions who took part in the
revolution, whether activists, journalists, or civil society, but they
have endured the most severe consequences, along with the Muslim
Brotherhood as the two groups who have faced real massacres,” she
explained.

Since the establishment of the two main groups — Ultras
White Knights and Ultras Ahlawy — in 2007, the fan groups have clashed
frequently with the authorities.

In 2008, there were
confrontations when police forces attempted to ban fans from entering
indoor matches. This resulted in clashes outside the stadiums that
occurred again when security forces tried to prevent fans from using
fireworks and banners during games.

In 2009, a media campaign was
started against the fan groups, led by former footballer and talk show
host Ahmed Shobeir, who accused them of being drug addicts. This was
followed by the mass arrests of ultras members from their houses,
according to a report by privately owned Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper.

The
Ultras groups used their experience in confrontations with the police
during football matches on the front-lines of clashes during the 2011
revolution.

Abdel Hamid says the fact that Ultras groups are well
organized and self-funded makes them a threat to the state, despite them
not being primarily political groups.

Ultras groups, whose
members are in the thousands and are spread across the country, have not
yet officially responded to Saturday's ruling.

May 16, 2015

Daniel Politi

An Egypt court has sentenced former president Mohamed Morsi, along
with 105 other Muslim Brotherhood supporters, to death for a mass jail
break in 2011.

The sentence was referred to the grand mufti, Egypt’s
most important religious authority, “whose opinion isn't legally binding
but is traditionally adopted by the court,” details the Wall Street Journal.

But Yehia Ghanaem, a former managing editor of the newspaper Al Ahram tells Al Jazeera
the death sentence is the expected outcome, and whatever the grand
mufti decides was “not compelling to the judiciary.” The court is
expected to make a final ruling on June 2.

The sentence against Morsi, who is already serving a 20-year prison
term on charges tied to the killings of protesters in 2012, was
immediately condemned by Amnesty International. Morsi’s sentence “shows a
complete disregard for human rights.

His trials were undermined even
before he set foot in the courtroom,” said Said Boumedouha, deputy
director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa
program, reports CNN. “The death penalty has become the favorite tool for the Egyptian authorities to purge the political opposition.”

Morsi and the other defendants were convicted of killing and
kidnapping police officers as part of their escape from Wadi Natroun
prison at the height of the revolt that led to the ouster of dictator
Hosni Mubarak. More than 20,000 prisoners escaped or were released
during the revolt, and the court said Morsi colluded with foreign
militants to free Islamists, reports the BBC.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan criticized Egypt for the sentence
and the international community for staying silent. “While the West is
abolishing the death penalty, they are just watching the continuation of death sentences in Egypt. They don’t do anything about it,” he said.

Daily News Egypt

Too early to tell whether partnership between both channels will continue, yet we support OnTV, DW AR spokesperson says

May 16, 2015

Menan Khater

German TV channel Deutsche Welle (DW) Arabic condemned the alleged
interference of Egyptian authorities in banning a joint programme
between the German channel and Egyptian private channel OnTV on Friday.

The weekly programme “Gama’a Moanath Salem” [Feminine sound plural],
presented by Egyptian anchor Reem Maged, has only aired two episodes on
both channels since 2 May, to feature success stories of Egyptian women
in society.

The first episode featured folklore artist Shaheera Mehrez, while the
second episode, aired on Saturday, featured Al-Masry Al-Youm
photojournalist Eman Helal and her encounters with shooting and field
reporting current events in Egypt from 25 January Revolution in 2011 to
the dispersal of Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit-ins on 14 August 2013.

There is much ambiguity surrounding the ban’s real reasons, as well
as uncertainty regarding the entity which ordered the ban. DW Arabic
spokesperson Christoph Jumplet told Daily News Egypt: “I cannot really
tell why the show was banned, ask the Egyptian authorities.”

He added: “It is too early to tell whether the partnership will
continue between both channels, yet we support OnTV and we want to
continue this programme.”

In an official DW Arabic statement Friday, the channel said: “This
act is a blatant violation against press freedom in Egypt.” The
statement added that the programme will continue airing on its channel
and on the website every Saturday.

The banning has also stirred negative responses on social media
platforms. Thousands of Twitter users, media personnel, and activists
used a hashtag of the programme’s name to criticise the ban. “Reem
presents a source of fear to the state dictatorship,” a Tweet read.

The show was considered a comeback for Maged on TV after an absence
that lasted for nearly two years following the halt of her programme
“Baladna b el masry” [Our country in the Egyptian way] on OnTV in 2013.

Maged is also a political advocate who took part in the “No to
military trials” protest in front of the Shura Council in 2013. Earlier,
she was accused of insulting judiciary on her show in 2012. She was
also summoned by military prosecution, for previewing alleged military
violence towards activists in 2011.

Mada Masr

Workers and journalists raised a number of grievances during a
conference on Tuesday, hosted by the Egyptian Center for Economic and
Social Rights (ECESR), over increasing punitive measures against them in
recent months.

Some claimed that such measures, which have
included dismissals, forced relocations and retirements, pay deductions
and criminal charges, are punishment for oppositional views to their
employers or the state, whilst others point to a lack of legal recourse
and legislation protecting their rights.

The criminalizing of the
right to strike and lack of union or syndicate support was foremost in
the minds of both workers and journalists, who voiced concerns and
shared experiences.

Presented at this meeting were figures compiled by the
recently-established 'Association of Laid-off Journalists' regarding the
number of media staffers fired from their jobs since the beginning of
2015.

According to their figures, a total of 160 have been
"punitively fired" from the state-owned Al-Ahram Media Company, 134 from
the privately-owned Youm 7 Media Company, 67 from the privately-owned
news portal Dot Masr, 30 from the privately owned Al-Dostour News, 18
from the privately-owned Shorouk News, four from the private Al-Masry
Al-Youm Media Company, and 12 from the privately-owned 3agel News
website

Panelists at this conference, dubbed,
“Lay-offs, forced retirements, and trumped-up charges against labor
leaders and journalists,” called for the release of Yasser Mahmoud, a
worker from the state-owned Egypt Gas Company who was jailed on charges
of instigating strikes, and of Mohamed Zaki, a worker who was sacked
from the state-owned Petrotrade Company and is in police custody pending
criminal investigations related to his involvement in strike action.

Grievances
were also raised by workers from Egypt’s largest textile company, the
Misr Spinning and Weaving Company in Mahalla al-Kubra. Prominent labor
leader Kamal al-Fayoumy was sacked from his job on April 16, after
company administrators charged him with instigating strikes resulting in
millions of pounds worth of losses.

Prior to Fayoumy’s dismissal,
another two labor leaders, Nagy Haidar and Gamal Gad were dismissed
from the company in February for similar reasons.

“We went on strike in protest against the mismanagement and rampant corruption in our company,” Fayoumy said.

The
company blamed our strike action for financial loses, which the state’s
Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) reported
amounts to LE1.3 billion, he explained, adding, “In reality, my two
co-workers and I were sacked because we demanded accountability and an
end to corruption.”

Fayoumy accused the current government of favoritism towards businessmen and investors, while neglecting employment rights.

Lawyer
at the ECESR Alaa Abdel Tawwab sarcastically suggested, “Instead of
celebrating Labor Day in Egypt, perhaps we should start celebrating the
‘Day of Punitive Dismissals’,” as they have become a daily occurrence.

He
said lack of new legislation to replace the Trade Union Law 35 (1976)
has meant that independent labor unions are still not recognized and
that punitive measures are often taken against those involved in labor
action in their workplaces as a result.

A draft law, the “Trade Union Liberties Law,” was prepared in 2011 to replace Law 35, but was never passed.

ECESR
lawyers took part in a campaign — “Towards a Just Labor Law” — to draft
a new law to replace Unified Labor Law 12 (2003). A draft was published
on May 1 this year.

Labor activists claim the provisions of Law
12 (2003) facilitate the punitive sacking of workers for engaging in
strikes and other industrial action.

“It is a catastrophe
that the Supreme Administrative Court forced striking workers in the
public sector into early retirement, especially as this violates
Constitutional Article 15, and a host of international rights
conventions to which Egypt is a state party.”

According to Abdel
Tawwab, “If the court claims that strikes are criminal actions, then it
is the court that is committing a crime” by violating the constitution.

The
lawyer dismissed the court’s verdict that labor strikes are a breach of
Islamic Sharia Law. “Sharia Law does not directly refer to strikes or
other forms of industrial actions,” he said.

Ahmed Shaheed, a
former fare-collector and independent unionist at the Public Transport
Authority (PTA), is another labor leader who was sacked from his job
this year for instigating strikes and obstructing public bus services.

Shaheed and the PTA authorities accuse each other of responsibility for hefty loses.

“Egyptian
law now criminalizes workers’ protest marches, and penalizes public
sector employees who exercise their lawful right to strike,” Shaheed
said.

A total of 32 PTA employees, including Shaheed, are due to
stand trial before the State Council Court on May 15, and again in
another trial on June 13, for strikes they led in 2012 and 2013.

According
to leftist labor lawyer, Haytham Mohamadeen, the government of
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has taken criminal action against
striking workers on the basis that they are harming the national
economy, incurring financial losses, and deterring investment.

The
government “never pursues businessmen for engaging in the equivalent of
employers’ strikes, such as: mass lay-offs, punitive sackings,
lockouts, factory closures, and capital flight abroad, even though such
actions may strongly harm the national economy and incur billions of
pounds worth of losses,” Mohamadeen asserted.

Recent remarks
by the former justice minister, when he commented that the children of
workers could not join the judiciary, are indicative of the regime’s
classist attitudes, he claimed, adding, “You’ll never see the police
cracking down on employers when they establish their chambers of
commerce, or business associations.

Journalists in Egypt face acute dangers including arbitrary
arrest, indefinite detention without charge, prosecution and
intimidation according to a statement published by Amnesty International
on World Press Freedom Day (3 May) highlighting the dangers of media
reporting in the country.

At least 18 journalists are currently detained in Egypt, dozens more
have faced arbitrary arrest. Since June 2013, at least six journalists
have also been killed while covering protests, either by security forces
or in clashes between demonstrators.

"In Egypt today anyone who challenges the authorities’ official
narrative, criticizes the government or exposes human rights violations
is at risk of being tossed into a jail cell, often to be held
indefinitely without charge or trial or face prosecution on trumped-up
charges," said Philip Luther Director of the Middle East and North
Africa Programme at Amnesty International.

"While the detention and prosecution of the three Al Jazeera
journalists Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed made
international headlines, out of the spotlight many other local
journalists are languishing in jail or being punished or harassed for
speaking out. Any journalist detained solely for their journalistic work
must be released immediately and unconditionally."

Friday, May 8, 2015

Mada Masr

For the first time in living memory, Egypt is not celebrating Labor Day.

The
only official commemoration took place on Monday, April 27 behind
closed doors at Cairo’s Police Academy in the presence of President
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, governmental officials and state-appointed leaders
from the Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF.)

This
commemoration, which was not televised, is reported to have involved 10
workers who received honorary medals. It is the first time ever that the
president of Egypt has not delivered a Labor Day address.

During Monday’s commemoration,
Gebali al-Maraghi, chief of the state-controlled ETUF, presented Sisi
with a declaration from his federation vowing that its members would
reject strikes and refrain from protests, sit-ins or other industrial
actions.

ETUF leaders called instead for dialogue and collective
bargaining between workers, the state and employers, according to the
state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram.

The Cabinet also announced that
there would not be a working day off, as this year the official holiday
coincides with the weekend.

A statement was
issued by a host of Egyptian human rights organizations on Labor Day in
which they denounced the aforementioned judicial decree as violating
Article 15 of the 2014 Constitution, as well as international rights
conventions to which Egypt is party.

“We are witnessing the worst
Labor Day in Egyptian history this year,” commented Ali Fattouh, an
independent union organizer and bus driver employed at Cairo’s Public
Transport Authority.

Fattouh argued that the government is pushing
back on workers’ rights and the organizational freedoms of unions,
while Egypt’s largest independent labor federation — the Egyptian
Federation of Independent Trade Unions (ETIFU) — “is falling in line
with the government’s dictates, denouncing workers’ right to strike
while championing the policies of the ruling regime.”

Like
Fattouh, many other independent unionists, labor rights organizations
and leftist groupings are not celebrating Labor Day this year, as they
believe there is nothing to celebrate in 2015.

Since their
emergence in the 2011 uprising until 2013, independent labor federations
had celebrated Labor Day in Tahrir Square. However, they were only
capable of organizing small rallies involving just a few hundred
workers, revealing the inability of these independent federations to
mobilize their ranks.

Following the military led regime change on
July 3, 2013, Tahrir Square was made off-limits for workers’ rallies,
and in 2014 independent unionists celebrated Labor Day indoors.

Workers at the state-owned petroleum services company Petrotrade issued a statement on Thursday declaring, “We are not celebrating Labor Day this year, as there is no cause for celebration.”

“This
is the fifth Labor Day since the January 25 revolution, and yet none of
the revolution’s demands have been achieved, nor has social justice
been realized,” the statement added.

Despite government pledges
since 2011, neither a new labor law nor a new trade union law has been
issued to replace the repressive and outdated laws regulating workers
rights, the Petrotrade workers continued.

The statement argued
that Egypt is suffering from a counter-revolution, indicated by the fact
that a host of striking workers and independent unionists have been
subjected to punitive measures nationwide, including disciplinary
hearings, relocations, lay-offs, prosecution and trials.

Dozens of
workers across the country are presently being prosecuted for
instigating strikes and labor unrest, as well as incurring losses for
industries with their work stoppages.

Fattouh explained that he
and 31 of his co-workers at the Public Transport Authority are standing
two separate trials on May 15 and June 13 before the State Council Court
on charges of instigating strikes in the years 2012 and 2013.

“We
are being sent to court, and possibly to jail, simply for exercising
our right to organize a peaceful strike at our workplaces,” said
Fattouh.

“When you have a court of law outlawing the right to
strike, which is clearly safeguarded by international conventions and
domestic legislation, what is there left to celebrate on Labor Day?” he
argued.

But Maraghi is quoted in Al-Ahram as declaring that “Egypt
is currently blessed with a climate of freedom and democracy,” and
“that the ETUF is the only legitimate representative for all of Egypt’s
workers, regardless of their political tendencies.”

Maraghi concluded by singing Sisi’s praises, while claiming: “there is no room for politicization of the union movement.”

Yet
even Ibrahim Eissa, a TV anchor on the show 25/30, which broadcasts on
the privately owned ONtv channel, criticized Sisi’s labor commemoration
this year.

Eissa argued that Labor Day should be celebrated on May
1, as is the national and international tradition.

“Labor Day should be
commemorated in a factory, company or workplace,” he added, asking
Sisi, “Oh president, if you celebrate Labor Day at the Police Academy,
then where are you going to celebrate Egypt’s National Police Day?”

Independent labor unions flourished across
Egypt with the popular uprising of 2011, but this growth translated
neither into unity nor strength, and these independent associations
appear to have withered away since the military-led regime change in
July 2013.

State-controlled trade union federations are presently
attempting to dissolve these independent associations, which have never
been formally recognized by the government. Members also face punitive
measures from their employers, political polarization within their own
ranks, organizational schisms and a lack of resources.

These
factors threaten the viability and utility of independent unions as
agents of labor reform. Meanwhile, Ministry of Manpower politics also
cast a shadow on these independent associations, with some independent
unionists claiming the ministry is striving to marginalize them.

The
two chief federations for such unions emerged in the form of the
Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions (EFITU), which was
established on January 30, 2011, and the Egyptian Democratic Labor
Confederation (EDLC), established on April 24, 2013. These two
federations have not succeeded in uniting their ranks.

Moreover, a
host of smaller independent federations have since been established
outside the realm of both the EFITU and EDLC, several of which broke off
from these two larger federations.

Hoda Kamel, a former EFITU
board member, explains there are a total of six labor union federations
in Egypt, and “of these, the independent federations are in disarray.
They are weak, divided and underfunded."

EFITU and EDLC are both headquartered in Cairo, with no regional offices or strong presence elsewhere in the country.

Mostafa
Bassiouny, an analyst of worker politics and the author of several
books on the trade union movement, says that “over the past four years,
Egypt's independent unions have proven they are unable to build solid
labor structures, to organize general strikes or to mobilize on the
national level."

Several leaders of the independent union movement
— particularly from the largest federation, EFITU — "moved to support
state politics since July 3, 2013, to align themselves with the Ministry
of Manpower and to oppose strikes,” he argues.

While EFITU's former leader, Kamal Abu Eita, was appointed minister of manpower
following the deposition of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi
in July 2013, hopes for a political climate conducive to independent
union organizing quickly evaporated with the arrival of Nahed al-Ashry,
who replaced him as minister in March 2014.

Ashry gradually rose
to prominence during the era of former President Hosni Mubarak, becoming
the ministry's leading go-to official for labor arbitration and dispute
resolution.

Although
she has described herself as neutral, with a hands-off approach to all
unions, Ashry and her ministry have been accused of obstructing the
authorization of new independent unions and siding with the
state-controlled Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF.)

Ashry
has shown resolve to end strikes in order to increase investor
confidence and employment opportunities, and in the past, she accused
independent unions of being the main instigators of work stoppages and
labor unrest in the country.

Kamel believes independent unions
have become a scapegoat for the nation’s economic woes. "The ETUF's
affiliate unions have led strikes, as have independent unions and
non-unionized workers alike,” he says.

Several labor activists
claim Ashry favors the ETUF over other unions, as leaders of this
state-controlled federation have officially authorized only two strikes
in its nearly 58 year history.

Numerous articles posted on the official ETUF website claim independent unions are illegal and illegitimate,
undeclared recipients of foreign funding, political agents and threats
to national security — all accusations with serious legal penalties.

Some ETUF leaders even claim independent unions are involved in sabotage and sponsoring terrorist activists.

The
treasurer and co-founder of the Independent Federation of Petroleum
Employees, Hatem Abdel Dayyem, dismisses such claims as "baseless
accusations."

"It's the state-controlled, yellow federation which has no legitimacy,” he argues.

Abdel
Dayyem points out that ETUF's leadership was last elected in 2006, in
elections which the Administrative Court ruled null and void due to a
lack of judicial supervision. Nonetheless, its leaders remained in
office until their terms expired in 2011, and ministers have been
appointing ETUF leaders since then.

"The ETUF claims we
independent unions receive illegal foreign funding. Let them look inside
our coffers — we are struggling financially, and all the money at our
disposal is LE3,015. What kind of foreign funding or currency is that?"
he asks.

Abdel Dayyem added that the application papers for the
Independent Federation of Petroleum Employees were rejected by the
Manpower Ministry in December 2014, "due to unspecified reasons."

"We
know all our paperwork is valid and in order. We also know our rights,
and that our federation is officially established upon notification,"
Abdel Dayyem claims.

The Manpower Ministry’s spokesperson could
not be reached for clarification regarding the official recognition of
this independent federation, or other questions regarding the
independent union movement.

“Historically, there exists a sort of
umbilical chord relationship between the ministry and ETUF. They both
want to maintain these direct links,” Bassiouny explains.

“Despite their
shortcomings, independent unions are still closer to genuine concerns
of the labor movement than ETUF, which functions more like a union
police than a workers' organization. Ashry is not seeking to wipe out
independent unions, but rather to have them sidelined or co-opted,” he
claims.

When Ashry addressed the Arab Labor Organization last
month, the state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram quoted her as saying, "While
Egypt is a law-abiding state, its ratification of International Labor
Organization Convention 87 [concerning freedom of association and
protection of the right to organize] is not synonymous with the
plurality of unions."

According to statements published on ETUF’s
official website, Ashry then went on to say, "Independent unions cannot
take the place of legitimate unions." Ashry has consistently argued for
the unity of the union movement, and warned against independent or
alternate unions that could fragment such a unity.

Ashry commented she
couldn’t overturn the recognition of independent unionists who had
filed their application papers under former Manpower Minister Ahmed
Hassan al-Borei.

Borei says that the foremost obstacle in the path
of independent unions is their ambiguous legal status, as Trade Union
Law 35/1976 — which solely recognizes the legitimacy of the
state-controlled ETUF — is still in effect.

During his brief term
as minister in 2011, Borei oversaw a host of unionists, labor lawyers
and political figures who drafted a bill on trade union liberties to
replace Law 35. The bill recognized the right to freely establish trade
unions upon notification to the Ministry of Manpower. However, the
consecutive ruling authorities of the past four years have kept it
shelved, and the bill has yet to be ratified.

Borei explains that Law 35 runs against the essence of union freedoms stipulated for in ILO Convention 87,
which Egypt ratified in 1957. Without a new trade union law
guaranteeing the freedom to establish their labor organizations, he
says, independent unions will continue to be left in a gray zone of
isolation and marginalization.

"If Egypt does not issue
legislation allowing its workers to freely organize, I fear it may be
placed back on the ILO's short-list of states violating union rights,”
he cautions.

"ETUF membership is mandatory for all unionized
workers according to Law 35,” Borai adds. “Automatic deductions of union
dues from workers' wages may often deter them from joining an
independent union, where they would also have to pay dues."

While their membership figures are frequently contested, ETUF claims some 5 million members.

Similarly,
EFITU's membership figures are contested. By 2013, EFITU chief Abu Eita
was claiming a membership of some 2 million.

Bassem Halaqa, Secretary General of EFITU, claims his federation currently has a membership of around 800,000.

"We
had around 1.4 million memberships. However, we've found that several
of our affiliate unions are merely entities on paper" said Halaqa. "We're filtering
out such entities, as they have no actual presence."
Kamel claims that the
"total membership of all independent unions and federations probably
does not exceed a few hundred thousand."

It’s nearly impossible to
know the real number of independent unions or their members, because
"many of them are not affiliated to any federation, other unions have
quit federations, while others are still forming federations, and yet
others are merely unions on paper, not really existing in workplaces,”
Kamel explains.

Challenges to the independence and legitimacy of
these unions haven’t stopped at legal measures, however. New leadership
has shown a penchant for state alignment that flies in the face of their
ultimate aims.

Last year, Kamel and other EFITU co-founders froze their memberships
in their federation following the actions of the incumbent president,
Malek Bayoumi. Under his leadership, EFITU representatives signed a
declaration sponsored by Ashry in May 2014 to halt strikes for a year.

Bayoumi
was also accused of using EFITU as a platform to endorse the 2014
presidential campaign of then-Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Kamel
and other EFITU members sought to issue a vote of no confidence against
Bayoumi due to his political alignment with the ruling regime. However,
their attempts failed, as they were not able to reach the required
quorum of members for such a motion.

EFITU's secretary general, distanced himself and Bayoumi from such actions.

"There
are no schisms in our federation,” Halaqa claims. “However, we are
facing very difficult financial circumstances. We're not a big
federation like ETUF, and we're not propped up by the state."

Echoing
Ashry's rhetoric, he adds, "We need some time out from strikes. We need
to take into consideration our labor rights along with Egypt's economic
needs."

Halaqa
hopes in the near future, EFITU and EDLC will unite the ranks of
Egypt's independent unions by forming a confederation amongst
themselves.

EDLC member Talal Shokr, said he also aspires to see such a confederation taking shape.

However,
Shokr added: "Presently there are no prospects for unity between the
EDLC and EFITU. There seems to be no structural plans for such a merger.
Nor are there currently any concerted efforts to bring all these
independent unions and federations under one umbrella."